IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 1 | Issue 10 | April 2015

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

A Study on Effective Replacement of Fine

Aggregate using Copper Slag
M. R. Amarnaath
UG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Knowledge Institute of Technology

S. Jaya Pradeep
UG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Knowledge Institute of Technology

R. A. Kavin
UG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Knowledge Institute of Technology

P. Dinesh
UG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Knowledge Institute of Technology

S. Haribaskaran
UG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Knowledge Institute of Technology

Abstract
In This paper we have experimented and investigate the effect of copper slag by replacing it with the fine aggregates and studied
the properties of concrete. For the experiment we have prepared five mix designs with different proportions of copper slag
ranging from 0% (for the control mix) to 35% and 100%. Concrete mixes were evaluated for density, compressive strength,
tensile strength, exural strength and durability. The results indicate that there is an increase in the concrete density of nearly 5%
with the increase of copper slag content, whereas the workability increased rapidly with increases in copper slag percentage.
Addition of up to 35% of copper slag as sand replacement has a comparable strength with that of the control mix. However,
further additions of copper slag caused reduction in the strength due to an increase of the free water content in the mix. Mixes
with 100% copper slag replacement gave the lowest compressive strength value of approximately 50 MPa, which is almost 16%
lower than the strength of the control mix. The results also demonstrated that the surface water absorption decreased as copper
slag quantity increases up to 35% replacement; beyond that level of replacement, the absorption rate increases rapidly. Therefore,
it is recommended that 40 wt. % of copper slag can used as replacement of sand in order to obtain concrete with good strength
and durability properties.
Keywords: Concrete, Copper slag, Density, Compression strength
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION
Copper slag is a massive metallurgical residue obtained from the transformation of copper ore concentrates into metallic copper
in the smelters. Slags are deposited in landfills that occupy large areas of land. Their chemical composition is rich in iron, silicon
and aluminum oxides and in their mineralogical composition, the presence of fayalite and magnetite, among other compounds is
common. The main environmental impact produced by slag disposition is a change in land use and the visual pollution of the
landscape. On the other hand, under certain weather conditions, leaching can occur, depending on the characteristics of the
solution, the composition, and the final crystalline structure of the solid slag.
It is estimated that in the copper industry, for every ton of metallic copper production, approximately 2.2 tons of copper slag is
generated and in the world, about 24.6 million tons of slag is produced annually. These metallurgical centers produced 2,360,000
metric tons of copper slag in the year 2002, leaving this waste deposited indefinitely as a hard floor, without current industrial
utility. However, global experiments for the use of copper slag have been going on in various sectors of production and the
results have been published with very good prospects. In particular, there is the use of this metallurgical waste in the construction
industry, where one of the studied applications is its use as a substitute for aggregates, both in cement mortar and concrete. This
paper describes an experimental study performed to determine possibilities for the use of copper slag as a substitute for the sand
in the manufacture of concrete.
Also, copper slag exhibits pozzolanic properties since it contains a low CaO content and other oxide such as Al2O3, SiO2, and
Fe2O3. Use of copper slag in the concrete industry as a replacement for cement and/or ne aggregates can has the benets of
reducing the costs of disposal and helps protecting the environment.

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A Study on Effective Replacement of Fine Aggregate using Copper Slag

(IJSTE/ Volume 1 / Issue 10 / 045)

II. MATERIALS
1) Cement: Portland Pozzolona cement, 43 Grade conforming to IS: 12269 1987.
2) Fine aggregate: Locally available river sand conforming to Grading zone II of IS: 383 1970.
3) Copper slag: Copper slag is a by-product material produced from the process of manufacturing copper. As the copper
settles down in the smelter, it has a higher density, impurities stay in the top layer and then are transported to a water
basin with a low temperature for solidication. The end product is a solid, hard material that goes to the crusher for
further processing.
4) Coarse aggregate: Locally available crushed blue granite stones conforming to graded aggregate of nominal size 12.5
mm as per IS: 383 1970.
5) Silica fume: Obtained from ELKEM India (P) Ltd., Navi Mumbai conforming to ASTM C 1240 as mineral admixture
in dry form.
A commercially available Poly Carboxylic Ether based super plasticizer was used as chemical admixture to enhance the
workability of the concrete.
6) Water: potable water.

III. MATERIAL PROPERTIES

A. Cement:
Portland Pozzolona cement (43 Grade) was used for casting all the Specimens. To produce high performance concrete, the
utilization of high strength cements is necessary. Different types of cement have different water requirements to produce pastes
of standard consistence. Different types of cement also will produce concrete have a different rates of strength development.

Fig. 3.1: Cement

S. No.

Table -3.1:
Properties of Cement
Property Of Cement Values

Fineness Of Cement

7.5%

2
3
4
5

Grade Of Cement
Specific Gravity
Initial Setting time
Final Setting Time

43
3.15
28 min
600 min

Normal consistency

35%

B. Fine Aggregate:
Clean and dry river sand available locally will be used. Sand passing through IS 4.75mm Sieve will be used for casting all the
specimens.

Fig. 3.2: Fine Aggregate

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A Study on Effective Replacement of Fine Aggregate using Copper Slag

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Table -3.2:
Properties of Fine Aggregate
S.No
1

Properties
Specific Gravity

Value
2.65

2
3

Fineness Modulus
Water absorption

2.25
1.5%

C. Copper Slag:
Tests were conducted to determine the chemical composition, specic gravity and water absorption of copper slag and sand.
Results presented in Table 3.3 show that copper slag has a low CaO content compared with ordinary Portland cement,
which indicates that copper slag on its own cannot be used as a cementations material. But copper slag has high concentrations
of silica, alumina and iron oxides, which suggests that copper slag could have the potential to produce high quality pozzolans.
Results from specic gravity and water absorption tests (Table 3) revealed that copper slag has a specic gravity of 3.4 which
is higher than that of sand (2.77), whereas the water absorption values for copper slag and sand were about 0.2% and 1.4%,
respectively. This suggests that concrete produced with large copper slag substitution would have larger density values than
concrete produced with sand alone. On the other hand, due to its low water absorption it is expected that the free water content in
concrete mixtures will increase as copper slag content increases. This will lead to an increase in the workability of concrete
mixtures containing high copper slag percentages

Fig. 3.3: Copper Slag

Table -3.3:
Chemical composition and physical properties of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), copper slag (CS) and sand
Component

OPC (%)

CS (%)

Sand

SiO2

20.85

33.05

Al2O3

4.78

2.79

Fe2O3

3.51

53.45

CaO

63.06

6.06

MgO

2.32

1.56

SO3

2.48

1.89

K2O

0.55

0.61

Na2O

0.24

0.28

TiO2

0.25

Mn2O3

0.05

0.06

Cl

0.01

0.01

Loss on ignition

1.75

IR

0.21

CuO

0.46

Al2O3 + SiO2 + Fe2O3

29.14

89.29

Specific gravity

3.15

3.4

2.77

Absorption(%)

0.17

1.36

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D. Coarse Aggregate:
Crushed granite aggregate with specific gravity of 2.77 and passing through 4.75 mm sieve and will be used for casting all
specimens. Several investigations concluded that maximum size of coarse aggregate should be restricted in strength of the
composite. In addition to cement paste aggregate ratio, aggregate type has a great influence on concrete dimensional stability.

Fig. 3.4: Coarse Aggregate

Table -3.4:
Properties of Coarse Aggregate
S. No.

Properties

Values

Specific Gravity

2.65

Size Of Aggregates

Passing Through 12.5 mm Sieve

Fineness Modulus

5.96

Water absorption

2.0%

Impact Test

15.2%

Crushing Test

22.5%

E. Super Plasticizer:
The inter particle friction between fibers and aggregates controls the orientation and distribution of thr fibers and consequently
the properties of concrete. Therefore Napthalene-Formaldehyde Sulphonated based super plasticizer is added as a friction
reducing admixture to improve the cohesiveness of mix.

Fig. 3.5: Super Plasticizer Conplast

Table -3.5:
Properties of Super Plasticizer
PROPERTIES

VALUE

Colour
Specific gravity

Brown
1.22to1.225

Chloride content
Solid content

Nil
40%

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A Study on Effective Replacement of Fine Aggregate using Copper Slag

(IJSTE/ Volume 1 / Issue 10 / 045)

IV. MIX RATIO AND RESULTS

Table -4.1:
Percentage replacement of copper slag as sand
Mix No

Copper slag

Sand

0%

100%

2
3

35%
100%

65%
0%

Table -4.2:
Compressive strength of concrete after curing
Compressive strength (MPa)
Mix No
7 days
21 days
28 days
1
21.2
21.8
22.6
2
30
37.6
42.7
3
23.2
25.4
26.1
Table- 4.3:
Flexural strength of concrete after curing
Flexural strength (MPa)
Mix No
7 days 21 days 28 days
1
3
5.2
7.7
2
4.1
5.5
7.3
3
3.4
4.6
5.9

V. CONCLUSION
1) Compared to the control mix, there was a slight increase in the concrete density of nearly 5% with the increase Of
copper slag content.
2) Whereas the workability increased rapidly with increases in copper slag percentage.
3) Addition of up to 35% of copper slag as sand replacement yielded comparable strength with that of the control mix.
4) However, further additions of copper slag caused reduction in the strength due to an increase of the free water content in
the mix.
5) Mixtures with 0% and 100% copper slag replacement gave the lowest compressive strength value of Approximately 30
MPa, which was almost 16% lower than the strength of the control mix.
6) There was a decrease in the surface water absorption as copper slag quantity increased up to 35% replacement.
Beyond that level of replacement, the absorption rate increases rapidly.
7) It is recommended that 35 wt. % of copper slag can be used as replacement of sand in order to obtain High strength with
good properties.
8) It should be noted that further research work is needed to explore the effect of copper slag as ne aggregates on the
properties of concrete with different cement types, silica fume sources and the degree of nes.

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